Life after Death
by Mokemono
Summary: Ichigo has an older sister that dies and ends up in Soul Society. This is her journey. Possible pairings include Zaraki/OC or Ikkaku/OC.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach**

Chapter One: Amaya Kurosaki

They say that when one is on the brink of death their life flashes before their eyes; Amaya had never believed in such a foolish thing but she was proven wrong on the day of her death…

_Flashback: Age 6_

"Daddy, Mommy, where are you taking me?" A young Amaya whined from the back seat of the car. Today was her birthday and her parents had said that they had a surprise for her but they had to drive to get there.

"We're almost there Amaya, please be patient for a little bit longer." Her mother, Masaki, said turning around from the passenger seat and facing her six year old daughter.

"Alright, fine." Amaya said reluctantly, crossing her arms and turning her head to the side, pouting, and not happy being kept out of the loop. Her parents knew that she hated surprises, yet they continued to find as many ways as possible to surprise her, especially her father, Isshin.

"Don't pout my little angle, we're here!" Isshin exclaimed from the driver's seat hopping to cheer up his daughter. He also used the nickname that she liked being called so much, even though she would never admit it.

"Really?" She asked excitedly, straightening up in her seat to try to get a glimpse out the car window to see where they were. Once she was out of the car she was able to see the sign that was on the building, Jiu Jitsu for kids. "You're signing me up for lessons!" Amaya screamed when she finally found out her birthday present. She had always wanted to learn ever since she had caught her father practicing his forms in the early hours of the morning.

"Yes my little angle, we are signing you up for lessons." Isshin said with a happy smile on his face, while smoothing down Amaya's black hair.

_End flashback_

'Of course that would be the first memory I think of, that was when I found my escape from reality. Every time I had a bad day, my martial arts would give me something else to concentrate on then what was happening in the real world. In my 25 years of life it has never let me down yet.' She thought to herself as she saw the headlights of another car coming right at her, seconds from impact, leaving no time to swerve out of the way. As soon as she felt a tear slide down her cheek she remembered another memory.

_Flashback: Age 9_

Isshin stared at his daughter practicing her jiu jitsu forms out in the back yard. All he could think of was how far she had come ever since her first lesson 3 years ago. She had moved through the ranks at an alarming rate. The day that she achieved her black belt he was so proud of her and even more proud of her when she said that she would like to learn a different style of martial arts but still keep up with jiu jitsu. The next day he had taken her to another martial arts studio and signed her up for krav maga lessons. Now one day a week she would work on her jiu jitsu and on the other days she would be learning krav maga.

"Amaya, could you please come inside, your mother and I have something to talk to you about." Isshin said when he noticed that she was done with her forms. With just a nod in reply she picked up her water bottle from the ground and made her way inside to the kitchen table where her mother was waiting.

"First off I would just like to let you know that you are not in trouble." Masaki started when she noticed that her daughter was trying to figure out what she did wrong.

"Alright, then what is it that you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked looking back and forth between her mother and father noticing their happy smiles.

Masaki and Isshin shared a look at each other and then Isshin burst out in a loud, but very happy voice, "You're going to be a big sister!"

Once the news that she was going to be a big sister, meaning that her mother was pregnant, she abruptly got up from the table and ran to her room, shutting the door behind her. Masaki and Isshin looked at each other both wondering what had caused their daughter to act like that. Masaki got up from the table making a move towards her daughter's room but her husband stopped her. With one look Masaki understood what Isshin was trying to tell her, and she nodded her head in approval and sat back down while Isshin made his was upstairs. Masaki knew that, as much as it pained her to say, her daughter was considerably closer to her father than her. Whenever Amaya was upset it was usually Isshin that got Amaya to calm down. 'They are so much alike that it's scary sometimes' she thought to herself while she waited for her husband to talk to their daughter.

"Amaya?" Isshin called from the hallway outside her door. When he received no answer he pressed his ear to the door and his daughter crying softly. Turning the door knob he found that it was unlocked and opened the door. Making his way into the room he saw Amaya on her bed in the fetal position, her back towards the door, with tears running down her cheeks. He made his way towards the bed and took a seat by his daughter's back and started to stroke her hair. Almost knowing what his daughter needed to hear he said, "You will always be my little angle, Amaya that will never change, never." That seemed to do the trick as Amaya sat up on the bed and turned to face her father.

"You promise, daddy?" She asked quietly.

"Yes, always and forever, my little angle."

_End flashback_

"I'm sorry that I hated the thought of you being born Ichigo, you are the best brother a sister could ask for." Amaya whispered, causing more tears to spill out of her eyes and down her face, as the car collided with her car, more memories from Amaya's past started flashing before her eyes.

_Flashback: Age 13_

Masaki and Isshin couldn't have been more proud of their daughter. They couldn't keep their happy smiles as they watched as Amaya received her black belt in krav maga. She had also received her second degree black belt in jujutsu a year ago. Once the ceremony was over, a very pregnant Masaki, Isshin, 4 year old Ichigo, and Amaya made their way out to Amaya's favorite sushi restaurant to celebrate her success. Not even a minute after they sat down at their table Masaki's water broke. They quickly rushed to the hospital and after many long hours of hard labor Amaya's little sisters Karin and Yuzu were born.

_Flashback: Age 16_

Today was the day that Amaya graduated high school and she couldn't have been more excited for it. With all her hard work she was able to graduate 2 years ahead of time and during the last 3 years of her life she was able to obtain a third black belt but this time in ninjutsu. The day seemed to pass by in a flash and before she knew it she was at home, in her room, reading. When the door opened she looked up from her book and saw her father standing in the doorway.

"Come, talk a walk with me Amaya, there is something that I want to talk to you about." Isshin said and walked out of the doorway not giving Amaya time to respond. Quickly Amaya changed out of her pajamas and in to comfortable walking clothes and went to meet up with her father, who was waiting for her by the front door. About 10 minutes into their walk, Amaya's curiosity got the better of her and she asked her father what he wanted to talk to her about.

"How long have you been able to see ghosts?" He asked, completely serious.

"Ever since I turned 13." She responded while trying to figure out how her father had known that she had been able to see ghosts in the first place. Seeing the look on his daughter's face he started to explain to her the existence of shinigamis to her. By the time he was done explaining she noticed that they stood in front of a shop located at a dead end. Isshin then further explained that the owner of this shop used to be a shinigami just like him and that the owner was willing further train her. Ten minutes had passed with them just standing in front of the shop letting Amaya absorb all the information she had been told. Finally she worked up the courage and entered the shop.

_Flashback: Age 18_

While she was in college working on getting her bachelor degree in just 3 years instead of the normal 4, she had been training with Kisuke, albeit not as much as she would have liked since college had kept her busier than high school. All of their training sessions, that they were able to have, ended with her battered and bruised and Kisuke with no injuries on him and not even out of breath. Sadly, after she earned her bachelor degree she moved straight on to medical school and had to move away from her family, which also meant that her training with Kisuke had come to an end.

_Flashback: Age 19_

After being away from her family for over a year Amaya was crushed when her father called her and told her that she had to come home right away. Noticing the tone in her father's voice she didn't voice any complaints and started making her way home 2 hours later. When she walked through the front door of her childhood home she instantly noticed all the sad faces and the missing face of her mother.

"Amaya…your mother…"Isshin started but was unable to finish before he broke down into tears again. Not needing anymore information to piece together the mystery of her missing mother she dropped to her knees and started crying. She regretted not coming home more often; she wished that she would have spent more time with her mother; most importantly she wished that she could have told her mother that she loved her one more time.

_Flashback: Age 22_

Three years had passed since Amaya's mother died and she still felt the guilt of not being there for her. It had also been 4 years since Amaya had done any sort of major physical activity. Medical school kept her busy but her goal to become a trauma doctor had kept her motivated. Now after all that hard work she was finally graduating and soon after that she would be placed in one of the best trauma residency anyone could ask for. After the ceremony she met up with her family and desperately wished that her mother was still alive.

_End flashbacks_

All Amaya could do was cry as her car flipped over and over again until she couldn't tell which way was up. In the distance she could hear sirens heading towards the accident and all she could think of was how much she loved my family. The whole time she was being treated and being rushed to the hospital by the paramedics was a blur and the next thing she knew was that she was waking up in a hospital bed.

"Ichi…go" Amaya said slowly as soon as she saw a bundle of bright orange hair out of the corner of her eye. Hearing his name being called he looked up and saw that his older sister was awake.

"Amaya, thank god you're awake, the doctors weren't sure if you were going to wake up." Ichigo said with a sad smile at the thought of that Amaya may have never woken up.

"…dad…" It was the only thing she was able to get out of her mouth but Ichigo, the ever-loving brother, understood what she meant.

"He took Karin and Yuzu to get something to eat. I wasn't hungry so I offered to stay with you."

A small smile formed on her mouth and in the next moment her hospital room door was being opened and she saw the face of her father and little sisters. When they saw that Amaya was awake they rushed to her bedside saying something along the line of 'thank god she's awake'. Amaya was surprisingly able to stay awake for the next couple of hours and listened to her family talk, since she really couldn't do that much talking. It was when they were sitting in silence, enjoying being together, that Amaya felt something change within her. She knew right then that she was going to die and that she couldn't be saved.

"I…" Amaya tried to say but was unable. Seeing that she wanted to say something they all got up and got closer to her bed to hear what she had to say. "I…lo-ve…y-ou…" she was able to get out with tears falling out of her eyes. When Isshin looked into his daughter's eyes she knew that he could see what she already knew. Amaya couldn't help but burst into tears when he leaned down and whispered into her ear that she was always his little angle and that he would love her forever and ever. He also said that if I found Masaki in soul society to tell her that he loves her and that he will never forget her. Once he was done talking to her she noticed that Ichigo, Karin, and Yuzu all had tears in their eyes and Amaya knew that they had come to the same conclusion as her father had. When they all got to say their goodbyes to her Amaya let out one last tear and let death take over her.

The next thing that she knew when she opened her eyes was that a bunch of doctors were standing over her body doing CPR trying to save her life. Amaya wished that she could tell them that it was okay to stop, that there was nothing that they could do to save her, but she couldn't so she just stood over her body and watched as they tried to save her life. After 15 minutes of trying they officially pronounced her dead. Then she caught a glimpse of something over her shoulder and saw that it was her brother but he was wearing the clothing of a shinigami.

"Ichigo, you're a shinigami?" Amaya asked, shocked.

"Yes, I am. How do you know about shinigami's Amaya?" He asked with a hint of sadness in his voice since I was dead after all.

"I know a lot of things Ichigo and I will not betray the confidence of the person who told me all about shinigami's. That is final so don't try to get a confession out of me because you will never get it and you still haven't answered my question about how are you a shinigami." With a sad smile Ichigo started to explain everything that had happened during the summer while she was working her ass off at school; everything from meeting Rukia for the first time, training to become a shinigami to save Rukia, learning how to master his zanpakuto, to the betrayal of Aizen, and everything in between.

"You know you're going to have to visit me in soul society now since I know you can gain access." She said with a smile once he was done with his explanation.

"You won't remember me, once you go to soul society you won't remember anything of this life; that's just the way it is." He said with a sad smile and looked as if he was going to start crying again.

"Well fuck that! I will remember my life here no matter what! So I will look forward to your visit and you better fucking visit me because if you don't I will beat your ass to a pulp, mark my words!" She screamed at him, forgetting her life here would be the last thing that she would do. For a couple of seconds they just stared at each other and then burst out laughing. Once the laughing stopped she looked and saw how serious Ichigo's face was and knew that he was working up the courage to perform the konso on her to send her to soul society.

"Just do it Ichigo, I'll be fine." Amaya said quietly and turned to face Ichigo, who now wore a sad face, as he brought down the end of the handle, of his zanpakuto, to make contact with her forehead. The next thing that Amaya knew was that she was being sucked up into the sky and all she could feel was peace surrounding her.

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**Well there is the first chapter! Poor Ichigo had to perform a konso on his own sister****. So will Amaya keep her memory or will she forget like the other people that are sent to soul society. Also will she find her mother there?**

**Any and all reviews are helpful!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach, just the characters that I create.**

_Last Chapter: "Just do it Ichigo, I'll be fine." I said quietly and turned to face Ichigo, who now wore a sad face, as he brought down the end of the handle, of his zanpakuto, to make contact with my forehead. The next thing I knew I was being sucked up into the sky and all I could feel was peace surrounding me._

Chapter Two: 78th district of Rukongai

A small, run down, shack greeted Amaya when she came to. "How did I get here?" Amaya whispered, confused, as she looked around the shack for any clues. It wasn't long before she heard 3 sets of footsteps enter, from what she assumed was the front door. Immediately she shot out of the futon that she had been laying on and got into a defensive position.

"Where am I?" Amaya asked, keeping a close eye on the three girls.

"You're in the 78th district." The girl with red hair told her, who seemed to be the leader of the group.

"How did I get here?" Amaya demanded, wanting to get some answers.

"The same way that everyone else got here. You died." The answer had come from the girl with the dark purple hair.

"That's….that's not…..possible. I was just…." Amaya started, not able to finish her sentence.

"You can't remember, can you? Don't worry; it's the same for everyone." The red haired girl said. "I'm Akahanna and this is Akina and Shizu." Akahanna said and pointed to the two girls with purple hair behind her. What's your name?"

"Amaya…I don't remember my last name." Amaya said with a hint of sadness in her voice. It was like she knew that she was letting someone important down by not knowing her last name.

"That happens a lot here. Most people end up creating a last name for themselves and some don't bother, it's up to you. Our last name is Inuzuri, you're welcome to use it if you want." It was the girl with the shorter purple that spoke this time, Shizu.

"I would like that, a lot. Thank you Shizu." Amaya said appreciatively, dropping her defensive stance. "So, what is there to do around here?" She asked. All three girls in the room got a sadistic grin on their faces.

"All sorts of things, fighting, stealing, drinking…" Akahana listed.

"Aren't you guys too young to be drinking?" Amaya questioned.

"Not in the 78th district. The only rule here is to survive and if you have money to pay for a drink then no one is going to stop you. Besides we're one of the farthest districts from Seireitei, shinigami's hardly ever come out this far."

"Seireitei and Shinigami's?" Amaya asked, even though it felt like she knew what those words meant, she just couldn't remember.

Akina, the girl with the long purple hair, spoke up this time. "Shinigami's are the "guards" of Soul Society, the place we live in. Seireitei is the place in Soul Society where the shinigami's live. They are supposed to take care of the 80 districts and protect them from hollows. Hollows are these monsters that attack the districts every now and then. Since the 78th district is one of the last districts shinigami's rarely come out here and check on things. They tend to be late when a hollow attacks and by that point it's already done a decent amount of damage. That was how Akira died; she was a mother figure to us all."

"I'm sorry." Amaya said quietly.

"It's fine, that was about 25 years ago." Akahanna said.

"How? You guys don't look a day over 18?" Amaya said shocked.

"You don't age that fast here. I've been here for 75 years and Akina and Shizu have been here for 55 years. You get used to it after a while." Akahanna said. "Now, enough talking, lets teach you how you survive this district." She said while heading for the front door.

The day was spent teaching Amaya how to survive in the 78th district. It wasn't easy that was for sure. There had been a couple of run ins with the local bullies, that's what the group of girls called them. It was hit or miss whether the girls came across them. At the end of the day Amaya had a pretty good idea on how to survive this area.

"Have any of you ever thought of leaving this district and living in another one?" Amaya asked while they were eating some of the food that they were able to steal today.

"I tired that once, before Akina and Shizu were here. The group I was traveling with was attacked by a hollow, I was the only one that made it out alive and was because I ran while the hollow slaughtered everyone else. I'm not proud of that moment, but from them on I promised myself that I would protect anyone who would be in my group." Akahanna said with a saddened voice. "It's getting late, we should all get some sleep, stealing doesn't wait for the sun to come up."

With that said everyone went to their own futon that was scattered across the small shack. Amaya's sleep was plagued with dreams of what looked like a family crying and an orange haired boy in black robes looking sad. Amaya woke up with a start. The dream had felt so really. It felt like she should know those people in the dream but for the life of her she couldn't. Seeing the other girls start to wake up she knew that it was time to start that day's work. 'Hopefully it'll go better than yesterday.' She thought.

**5 Years Later**

Amaya couldn't believe that she had been in this district for five years already. She still had those dreams of that family crying and the boy with orange hair every night but she could still not remember who they were. She was sure that they were someone from her past, before she died. She got used to stealing and fighting; she had become a pro at it. It was rare that they would go to sleep hungry every night now. Luckily no one got seriously injured during the fights. They wouldn't have been able to afford the medical supplies needed to treat them; they didn't have the money saved up anymore. It was two years after Amaya came to Soul Society that Akahanna became ill. They ended up spending all the money they had saved up to get her medicine but it wasn't enough. Five days later Akahanna took her last breath. They buried her in the forest behind their shack. Ever since that day Amaya had become the leader of the group.

One day, when the weather was nice, the girls decided to take a day off of stealing and go pick fresh berries in the forest behind the shack. That decision would change everything. Around noon they heard a hollow scream close to their location.

"Run!" Amaya shouted at the girls. Without needing to be told twice the girls dropped the berries and ran back to the shack, they weren't fast enough. When they made it to one of the many clearings in the forest the hollow stood there, waiting for them. Within a blink of an eye the hollow attacked. It was quick; Akina wasn't able to dodge the attack in time as the hollow's claws cut down her back. The hollow focused its attention on Shizu next. She was able to dodge some of the attacks before she suffered the same fate at Akina. Amaya just stood there; fear making her unable to move, as she watched the hollow kill the two people she had come to see as her sisters. At that moment something inside of her snapped. She felt this pressure building up inside of her, guiding her movements as she dodged the hollow's attacks. Eventually, the hollow was able to cut her with its claws across her stomach.

"You smell tasty. I can't wait to eat you." The hollow said as it slowly approached her prone form on the ground.

As she lied there she continued to feel a pressure build inside of her. "Go to hell." She said as she felt the pressure release. The last thing she saw was a group of shinigami rushing into the clearing.

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